Various forms of mooring devices have been been used in the past for mooring vessels to docks, dolphins, other vessels, etc. and most of these have some form of provision for accommodating vessel movement because of active water, wind, etc. Some devices are telescopic in nature, but these suffer the disadvantage that, when fully telescoped, they become rigid columns and often result in damage to the vessel. Other devices are simple mooring lines of a fixed length that is more often than not exceeded by the amount of movement of the vessel away from the mooring object. Other devices have to be supplemented by various forms of fenders, buffers and similar shock-absorbing means, but these all lead to hull damage because of shock and abrasion.
The present invention features a device that eliminates most if not all of the foregoing disadvantages while providing for a flexible structure of simple and inexpensive design and construction. The device can be used in conjunction with single or multiple mooring lines and itself may be used singly or in multiples. The inventive device absorbs the shock forces that tend to be transferred to the hull of the vessel by severe waves, current, etc. The device also further reduces shock imparted to the typical mooring lines.
The novel mooring device lends itself to variations in size to accommodate vessels of different sizes while yet retaining the structural features that make the device a practical, useful and long-lived structure.